COVID-19

Testing for COVID-19

Information on lab testing and capacity and testing rates by ethnicity and DHB.

Last updated 1pm 20 February 2021.

All data on this page is as at 9:00am 20 February 2021 unless otherwise stated.

Data on this page is now updated daily.

Data is collected from the EpiSurv database (administered by ESR) unless otherwise stated.

On this page:

See also:

Testing summary, status, and results

COVID-19 viral testing
People tested Test results delivered in past 24 hours Test results delivered during past week
People who travelled internationally 689 7196
People working at the border, in managed facilities, or near people travelling internationally 913 7180
Within New Zealand, not linked to the border 8638 52733
Other 107 451
Total 10347 67560
COVID-19 testing status
  Total
All COVID-19 viral tests administered* 1,651,035
Testing kits in stock (updated Mon-Fri only) 212,309

* Covers the period from 22 January 2020 (first test in New Zealand) to 20 February 2021. Note that some people are tested more than once.

Testing results from 22 January 2020* to 20 February 2021
Test results In managed facilities Within NZ communities Total
Tested positive for COVID-19 796 1931 2727
Tested negative (no COVID-19) 192036 1456021 1648057
Inconclusive result for COVID-19 4 247 251
Total (all tests) 192836 1458199 1651035

* First test for COVID-19 in New Zealand was on 22 January 2020. Note that some people are tested more than once.

Number of tests for COVID-19
Daily number of tests completed for COVID-19 (with seven-day rolling average)

Testing over the past 4 weeks

Tests at managed facilities and within the community in district health boards (DHBs)
DHB of Patient Domicile 18 Jan to 24 Jan 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 7518 7630 7249 7328
Auckland 2622 5309 3173 3070
Bay of Plenty 581 1092 781 764
Canterbury 2004 2481 2108 1967
Capital and Coast 824 1177 986 897
Counties Manukau 3065 5050 3382 3659
Hawkes Bay 229 360 370 320
Hutt Valley 260 390 312 256
Lakes 254 470 318 340
MidCentral 403 594 529 393
Nelson Marlborough 354 460 452 368
Northland 284 4431 432 419
South Canterbury 114 140 116 132
Southern 729 1112 785 878
Tairāwhiti 135 144 119 132
Taranaki 176 418 281 221
Waikato 800 1590 1032 1130
Wairarapa 72 101 77 90
Waitematā 2448 10421 3474 3169
West Coast 34 60 36 29
Whanganui 84 116 109 73
Unknown 1165 1833 1488 1418
Total 24155 45379 27609 27053

Note: some people are tested more than once. We cannot give you detailed information about tests in your district, city or town, as we must protect the privacy of the people concerned.

Tests by ethnicity
Ethnicity 18 Jan to 24 Jan 25 Jan to 31 Jan 1 Feb to 7 Feb 8 Feb to 14 Feb
Maori 2252 5694 2712 2847
Pacific peoples 2438 3861 2844 2923
Asian 4018 7390 4669 4456
European/Other 11673 24060 13380 12675
Unknown 3774 4374 4004 4152
Total 24155 45379 27609 27053

Testing rate and results by location and ethnicity

All tests by DHB and in managed isolation and quarantine facilities from 22 January 2020 to 20 February 2021
Location Total tests Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Managed isolation and quarantine facilities 192836 0.41% NA
Auckland 207729 0.15% 370.62
Bay of Plenty 57475 0.08% 235.02
Canterbury 124776 0.12% 214.16
Capital and Coast 82672 0.16% 254.13
Counties Manukau 264446 0.09% 456.06
Hawkes Bay 33647 0.14% 200.41
Hutt Valley 30394 0.08% 200.18
Lakes 30550 0.04% 273.59
MidCentral 37399 0.1% 204.8
Nelson Marlborough 30058 0.11% 196.47
Northland 41114 0.09% 223.5
South Canterbury 10482 0.21% 174.25
Southern 69044 0.39% 204.8
Tairāwhiti 11822 0.04% 239.18
Taranaki 24455 0.05% 200.95
Waikato 103020 0.2% 240.1
Wairarapa 8683 0.05% 188.26
Waitematā 231187 0.13% 358.46
West Coast 3118 0.16% 97.62
Whanganui 11837 0.03% 181.95
Unknown 44291 0.11% NA
Total 1651035 0.17% 281.13
Tests by ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 20 February 2021
Ethnicity* Total test Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Māori 234520 0.09% 296.36
Pacific peoples 192059 0.11% 590.24
Asian 235451 0.17% 293.49
European/Other 884147 0.19% 284.26
Unknown 104858 0.23% NA
Total 1651035 0.17% 307.43

* The prioritised ethnicity classification system is used in this table and below. This means each person is allocated to a single ethnic group, based on the ethnic groups they identify with. Where people identify with more than one group, they are assigned in this order of priority: Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, and European/Other. So, if a person identifies as being Māori and New Zealand European, the person is counted as Māori. See Ngā tapuae me ngā raraunga: Methods and data sources for further information.

The data categorized by ethnicity come from National Health Index (NHI) data collection, linked to data held in the EpiSurv database.

Testing rates per 1000 people by location and ethnicity from 22 January 2020 to 20 February 2021
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 402.86 547.69 260.08 404.62
Bay of Plenty 255.48 457.5 162.61 229.62
Canterbury 209.12 279.55 198.47 212.94
Capital and Coast 252.93 300.53 171.83 265.91
Counties Manukau 452.72 758.61 348.1 357.65
Hawke's Bay 202.59 421.49 132.02 191.13
Hutt Valley 196.15 250.99 165.8 200.97
Lakes 295.11 420.52 231.58 257.06
MidCentral 197.67 261.87 131.55 211.3
Nelson Marlborough 205.78 441.01 142.66 192.34
Northland 249.69 244.23 165.99 211.31
South Canterbury 174.63 495.85 170.67 170.63
Southern 187.86 300.14 154.05 208.42
Tairāwhiti 257.65 321.16 241.17 212.53
Taranaki 200.03 287.17 198.21 198.36
Waikato 268.43 330.8 202.81 226.34
Wairarapa 198.64 317.57 203.52 180.77
Waitematā 373.8 536.54 287.76 360.22
West Coast 90.2 196.52 135.51 95.9
Whanganui 179.73 242.98 133.96 183.03
Total 278.83 552.58 251.76 258.34

Note: some people are tested more than once. We cannot give you detailed information about tests in your district, city or town, as we must protect the privacy of the people concerned.

Percentage of tests returning a positive result by DHB and ethnicity from 22 January to 20 February 2021
Location Māori Pacific peoples Asian European/Other
Auckland 0.07 0.19 0.13 0.15
Bay of Plenty 0.04 0 0.15 0.1
Canterbury 0.05 0.2 0.09 0.12
Capital and Coast 0.04 0 0.11 0.2
Counties Manukau 0.02 0.07 0.1 0.13
Hawke's Bay 0.03 0.15 0.23 0.17
Hutt Valley 0.12 0 0 0.09
Lakes 0.03 0 0.04 0.05
MidCentral 0.05 0 0 0.12
Nelson Marlborough 0.15 0 0 0.12
Northland 0.06 0.11 0 0.1
South Canterbury 0.1 0 0.69 0.2
Southern 0.4 0.14 0.14 0.42
Tairāwhiti 0.02 0 0 0.09
Taranaki 0 0 0.08 0.06
Waikato 0.09 0.04 0.25 0.24
Wairarapa 0.06 0 0 0.05
Waitematā 0.21 0.23 0.09 0.12
West Coast 0 0 0 0.19
Whanganui 0 0 0.47 0.03
Total 0.09 0.11 0.17 0.19

Note: we cannot give the total number of people testing positive per DHB and ethnicity for privacy reasons.

Testing rate and results by age and sex

Tests by age group from 22 January to 20 February 2021
Age group Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
0 to 9 140460 0.1% 222.58
10 to 19 147827 0.14% 230.62
20 to 29 307912 0.2% 412.25
30 to 39 298979 0.18% 438.4
40 to 49 240156 0.16% 394.44
50 to 59 235075 0.16% 370.49
60 to 69 168450 0.17% 314.97
70 to 79 76791 0.14% 211.23
80+ 35384 0.16% 189.54
Unknown 1 0% NA
Total 1651035 0.17% 328.28
Tests by sex from 22 January to 20 February 2021
Sex Total people tested Tested positive (%) Test rate per 1000 people
Female 845697 0.16% 332.39
Male 716472 0.18% 288.31
Unknown 88866 0.09% NA
Total 1651035 0.17% 310.61

New Zealand's approach to COVID-19 testing

New Zealand has a goal of maintaining the elimination COVID-19 in our country. Planned, targeted testing is one of the tools that can help meet this goal.

COVID-19 is a new disease, so we had to build a completely new testing capability.

There are two types of test for COVID-19:

  • a viral test that shows if you are currently infected with the virus (also called a PCR test)
  • an antibody test that shows whether you were infected before (also known as a serology test).

In New Zealand, the only publicly-available test is the viral test. This test is most reliable for diagnosing COVID-19 if it is taken at the right time (during the first week of the illness).

The first viral test result for COVID-19 was available on 22 January 2020, just over a month before the first case was detected here.

We don’t test without planning. A testing strategy is agreed in advance, based on each stage of the crisis and how we decide to manage it.

Find out more about our testing strategy

Page last updated: 20 February 2021

Print Feedback
Back to top